Smarter Sourcing

EP 36 - Supplier Data as a Compass, Not a Mirror with Aleck Matambo

Aleck Matambo's approach to supplier relationships proved critical during Dell's COVID-era factory relocations. When inventory shortages forced allocation decisions across the industry, suppliers prioritized Dell because of partnerships built long before the crisis. His framework moves beyond transactional cost negotiations to create symbiotic relationships focused on innovation, market insights, and long-term value creation. This partnership model becomes essential during supply chain disruptions, enabling faster adaptation and stronger resilience against geopolitical challenges that continue reshaping global manufacturing.
Aleck’s experience at Google reveals that most procurement teams struggle with AI adoption because they lack aligned strategy and change management. Rather than implementing AI tools to improve existing workflows, he advocates for using AI's transformational capabilities to reimagine operating models entirely. The key lies in selecting three to five priority areas, building strong business cases that address change impact, and investing in reskilling so teams view AI as capability augmentation rather than job replacement. 
Topics discussed:
How e-procurement and e-auctions in automotive achieved 20-30% savings while enabling low-cost sourcing expansion into China.
The transition from operator to consultant, bridging the gap between conceptual strategy and practical implementation.
Partnering with senior executives to identify how procurement addresses boardroom priorities like innovation, resilience, and growth.
Redefining procurement as a strategic enabler rather than cost center through executive partnerships, data-driven decision making, and leveraging AI and digital tools to reimagine workflows and organizational value.
Using data as a compass for opportunity identification rather than a mirror for cost savings alone.
Building symbiotic supplier relationships that deliver competitive advantages during crises.
The balance of trade program where procurement opened doors for sales teams by leveraging supplier relationships that sales didn't have.
AI implementation challenges where 85-95% of programs fail to achieve ROI, requiring aligned corporate strategy, prioritized use cases, strong change management, and focus on reskilling rather than replacement.
Moving beyond cost-focused metrics to measure total cost of ownership, supplier partnership quality, third-party risk management, and procurement's contribution to organizational resilience and agility during supply chain shocks.
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EP 35 - Lucid Motors' Kriti Jain on Maximum Chaos Creating the Best Transformation Conditions

Kriti Jain, Sr. Director of Indirect Procurement, walked into Lucid Motors to find an indirect procurement function that barely existed — a team in single digits without the infrastructure to support a scaling EV manufacturer competing against established players. Within a year, she built what she calls "indirect procurement 2.0," growing to nearly 30 people globally while establishing frameworks that position procurement as a strategic partner rather than a cost-cutting function. 
 
Her grandfather, who built an ice factory by hand in India, taught her at age 10 to trace problems upstream to root causes rather than wait for symptoms to cascade. That lesson about following data to find solutions shapes how she approaches organizational transformation decades later, actively seeking companies with "maximum problems" because that's where change creates the most value. She explains why 80% information is enough for decision-making when you can bridge the gap with accumulated expertise, how her team resolves stakeholder pushback through peer-to-peer subject matter expert engagement rather than escalation, and what it takes to earn credibility with engineering-focused leadership in a capital-intensive startup racing established competitors.
 
Topics discussed:
Building procurement infrastructure for technology, manufacturing, and automotive operations simultaneously in an EV startup environment.
The decision to prioritize tomorrow's organizational scalability over immediate cost savings when defining transformation success metrics.
An 80% information threshold for decision-making that relies on accumulated cross-industry expertise to bridge remaining uncertainty.
Developing team ownership mindsets that enable subject matter experts to resolve stakeholder pushback without leadership escalation.
How intentionally targeting companies with maximum operational chaos creates the most valuable conditions for professional growth.
The three-pillar focus strategy of technology innovation, policy evolution, and people development to avoid overwhelming teams with market changes.
How peer-to-peer communication between procurement specialists and business stakeholders builds stakeholder buy-in.
Building procurement team capabilities by hiring for ownership mindset and communication effectiveness.

EP 34 - Victoria’s Secret’s Former CFO Tim Johnson on Building a Cost-Centric Culture

LogicSource Board Chairman & Former CFO of Victoria’s Secret Tim Johnson's three-pillar methodology for collaborative cost cultures centers on objective third-party benchmarking, transparent measurement systems, and positioning procurement teams as strategic partners at the decision-making table. His approach consistently delivered results by focusing resources on growth and innovation rather than headcount reduction.
 
His organizational structure insights prove equally valuable: he advocates for indirect procurement reporting through finance rather than operations, citing the analytical rigor and accountability that finance leaders bring to cost initiatives. This ensures savings actually flow through P&L statements rather than disappearing into budget assumptions.
 
Topics discussed:
Building cost-conscious cultures through collaboration rather than budget cuts to fund growth and innovation initiatives.
Implementing three-pillar methodology: objective third-party data, transparent measurement systems, and strategic partnerships.
Addressing the "episodic problem" where companies go to market infrequently versus specialized providers' continuous benchmarking.
Positioning indirect procurement under finance leadership for analytical rigor and P&L accountability.
Creating regional micro-distribution centers using closed retail spaces to accelerate store remodeling timelines and reduce project delays.
Applying indirect procurement frameworks across industries through common spend categories and benchmarking approaches. 

EP 33 - AMD's Abhijit Kulkarni on Selecting 5-Year Growth Partners

Transactional supplier relationships weren’t working out, so Abhijit Kulkarni, Director of Manufacturing Strategy and Procurement at AMD, and his team shifted to identifying "growth partners" who can scale across AMD's entire product portfolio over three-to-five year horizons. 
 
Abhijit also offer insight on crisis management: AMD runs supply chain stress tests every 3 to 6 months, but he's learned that 60% of leadership development happens during real disruptions, not simulations. His hiring criteria reflects this reality: he looks for business acumen, communication clarity, and "conscious learning," the continuous improvement mindset that separates advancing procurement professionals from those who plateau.
  
Topics discussed:
Identifying 3- to 5-year growth partners versus transactional supplier relationships.
Tier 2 and tier 3 supplier mapping as "marathon exercise" for supply chain visibility and risk mitigation.
Supply chain stress testing cadence of running scenario analysis every 3 to 6 months for disruption preparedness.
Top 3 hiring criteria for procurement talent: business acumen, communication clarity, and conscious learning mindset.
Leadership development philosophy is 60% on-the-job crisis training and 40% formal mentoring and classroom learning.
Crisis management during real-world disruptions like Taiwan hurricanes and floods affecting semiconductor production. 

EP 32 - New Balance's Duncan Scott on How Marketing Decisions Reshape Supply Chains

Duncan Scott, Sr VP of Strategic Sourcing & Quality at New Balance, manages sourcing and quality for a company that introduces thousands of new footwear and apparel products annually, each requiring specialized manufacturing capabilities that generic suppliers cannot provide. His approach rejects commoditization in favor of deep category expertise and multi-decade supplier partnerships.
 
The athletic footwear industry operates at a complexity level that surprises outsiders. While automotive manufacturers might produce one mold per model, New Balance requires 39 different molds for a single shoe design to accommodate size and width variations. This specialization demands supplier relationships built on technical expertise rather than cost alone.  
 
Topics discussed:
How athletic footwear manufacturing requires dozens of molds per product, creating unique infrastructure and sourcing challenges.
How 40-year supplier relationships with specialized factories deliver competitive advantage over generic sourcing tools flooding the market.
The cultural differences between Korean vertical integration and Taiwanese interdependent manufacturing models.
Why New Balance operates US manufacturing facilities despite higher costs, focusing on efficiency improvements, not pure labor arbitrage.
How 3D printed molds enable faster production and complex undercut designs but create new technical challenges.
The infrastructure limitations preventing scaled US footwear manufacturing.
Why continuous lean efficiency improvements offset inevitable labor rate increases better than chasing the lowest-cost locations.
Staying ahead of material science trends by monitoring other industries 3 to 5 years before technologies become cost-effective.
The importance of collaborative price point negotiations with suppliers, recognizing that consumer acceptance determines whether cutting-edge features achieve volume scale.
Why maintaining objectivity and ethical supplier relationships produces superior problem-solving outcomes.
How Asia's emergence as a major consumer market is shifting traditional export-focused manufacturing toward regional onshoring and nearshoring strategies.

EP 31 - TripAdvisor's Freya Hurwitz on Cross-Functional Experience vs Category Expertise

Freya Hurwitz, Director of Procurement at TripAdvisor, manages procurement for TripAdvisor's 3,500 employees across four global brands with just one and half people on her team. Rather than trying to control every transaction, she built scalable systems that empower stakeholders to handle their own procurement while her team focuses on high-impact negotiations. 
 
Freya discusses how her cross-functional background helps her understand commercial models, build stakeholder relationships, and skip steps that traditional procurement professionals struggle with. She also addresses a fundamental shift happening in software procurement as vendors move to non-negotiable pricing models and pricing transparency increases across the industry. Her response isn't defensive but strategic: repositioning procurement's value upstream to focus on implementation complexity, tech stack integration, and operational readiness rather than just discount negotiations.
 
Topics discussed:
Managing global procurement for 3,500 employees across four brands with a 1.5-person team by building scalable self-service systems.
How cross-functional experience in marketing, product management, and IT operations creates competitive advantages.
Creating internal portals with negotiation frameworks and contract templates that empower stakeholders.
How procurement teams uniquely see across all functions while other departments remain within specific business units.
Achieving 98% adoption of collaboration tools across 3,500 users in one month through extensive stakeholder engagement and addressing specific team concerns months before launch.
The strategic challenge of creating economies of scale when independent business units prioritize autonomy.
Why procuring technology differs from commodity purchasing due to nuanced feature sets, integration requirements, and implementation complexity.
How pricing transparency and non-negotiable vendor pricing models are eliminating traditional procurement leverage based on discount negotiations.
Repositioning procurement value upstream to advise on tool selection, implementation complexity, and tech stack integration.
Using finance and accounting knowledge to navigate budget approvals, understand cost structures, and communicate effectively.
Balancing "speed wins" culture with necessary compliance requirements and contract review processes at a public company.
The shift in commercial models as software vendors establish fixed pricing tiers with limited negotiation flexibility.
Why staying curious about new technologies, processes, and continuous improvement drives long-term success.
How TripAdvisor's user-generated content model for reviews, photos, and videos differs from competitors and creates unique QC challenges.

EP 30 - JLL's Brent Kellett on Elevating Procurement Through Trust and Early Engagement

Cost avoidance delivers the same strategic value as cost savings, but CFOs often miss this reality when evaluating procurement performance. At JLL, Sr. Director, Group Sourcing Lead Brent Kellett has cracked the code on demonstrating total cost of ownership value through cross-functional partnerships that quantify operational efficiencies, energy savings, and service reliability improvements that don't show up in traditional savings calculations.
 
Brent's approach transforms procurement from order-taking to strategic advisory by focusing early stakeholder involvement and building trusted partnerships with internal teams. His systematic integration methodology turns potential resistance into collaboration when outsourced procurement integrates with existing functions, starting with empathy to understand career drivers and making internal stakeholders look good rather than replaced. JLL's initiative trains procurement professionals to deliver compelling five-minute client pitches, reflecting the C-level presentation skills needed to secure strategic involvement rather than last-stage procurement calls.
 
Topics discussed:
Treating cost avoidance as equally valuable to cost savings when demonstrating total cost of ownership to CFOs.
Building trusted partnerships with internal stakeholders by understanding their career drivers and making them look successful.
Implementing early stakeholder involvement strategies to transform procurement from last-stage participation to strategic front-end engagement.
Integrating outsourced procurement teams with existing client functions through empathy-driven relationship management and collaboration approaches.
Deploying unified technology platforms that connect contract lifecycle management, spend analytics, and work order systems globally.
Rolling out Azara business intelligence tool for real-time predictive analysis and facility management operational efficiency.
Training procurement professionals to deliver compelling 5-minute client pitches requiring C-level presentation and sales skills.
Managing global supplier performance through standardized cost, quality, delivery, and innovation metrics across all JLL verticals. 

EP 29 - Procurement & Supply Chain Leader Mark Vierling on the Three P's of Supply Chain Science

Mark Vierling, Procurement & Supply Chain Leader, makes a simple observation: while fractional COOs, CEOs, and CFOs are common, virtually no one was providing fractional Chief Procurement Officer services to companies that desperately needed them. His embedded approach, which he shares with John, differs from traditional consulting by making fractional leaders part of the client team rather than external advisors.
 
Drawing from automotive supply chain excellence learned at General Motors and applied across industries from manufacturing to government, Mark emphasizes why procurement must evolve from reactive cost management to proactive strategic capability. His experience implementing transformations demonstrates how the science of supply chain scales across entirely different business models and regulatory environments.
  
Topics discussed:
How fractional supply chain leadership fills a gap in the executive services market via embedded CPO expertise without long-term hiring commitments.
The transformation of procurement from reactive cost management to proactive strategic capability.
Common ERP implementation failures caused by inadequate current-state analysis.
AI applications in competitive sourcing for companies under $500 million, focusing on increasing competition among existing supplier bases rather than sophisticated predictive modeling.
The three P's — people, process, and performance — as the foundation of supply chain management that scales across industries.
Why data management and analytics will become the primary competitive differentiator in supply chain excellence.
The evolution of entry-level procurement roles as AI automates bid processes and RFP management.
Strategic alignment challenges between procurement teams and corporate vision, particularly in smaller companies.
The importance of robust SIOP processes for demand and supply management. 

EP 28 - UF Health's Dawn Watkins on Building Mutual Incentive Partnerships With Suppliers

How do you centralize procurement across a $1+ billion health system while maintaining 24/7 operations that literally keep people alive? Dawn Watkins, Director of Strategic Sourcing at UF Health, gives John her blueprint for transforming independent hospitals into an integrated clinical enterprise. Her team of 25 is expanding to 50+ as they merge previously independent facilities across 12 hospitals, nearly 3,000 patient beds, and hundreds of physician practices from Gainesville to Jacksonville. This isn't just organizational restructuring — it's a shift from decentralized decision-making to enterprise-wide standardization that's already delivering concrete results.
 
Dawn's journey from forklift operator at Honda to directing strategic sourcing for over a billion dollars in non-labor spend reveals how manufacturing discipline translates to healthcare procurement. She brings Honda's core principle of "removing waste before adding complexity" and her MBA professor's warning to "don't pave the cow path" — meaning never automate broken processes without first questioning what truly adds value. Her practical approach includes everything from streamlining supplier invoice corrections (reducing two actions to one) to building mutual incentive partnerships where both UF Health and suppliers benefit from shared success metrics, all while navigating the unique constraints of a regulated industry where you can't simply pass costs to patients. 
Topics discussed:
Moving from historically independent decision making to centralized procurement across 12 hospitals and 3,000 patient beds, including the governance structure involving C-suite leaders to guide category prioritization and strategy.
The principles of "removing waste before adding complexity" and "don't pave the cow path" philosophy — questioning what truly adds value rather than simply automating existing inefficiencies.
Creating enterprise-wide collaboration through operational leaders who serve as scaffolding during transformation, ensuring no procurement decisions are made without direct input from clinicians and patient care providers.
Building intelligence through supplier relationships and global monitoring services to assess tariff risks, country of origin impacts, and geopolitical disruptions across 100,000+ unique items.
Operating in a regulated industry where revenue doesn't always cover basic expenses, making cost pass-through to patients impossible while maintaining 24/7 service demands without downtime.
Developing supplier relationships built around shared measurable outcomes where both UF Health and suppliers benefit from aligned success metrics.
Systematically identifying opportunities to consolidate products across previously independent hospitals while aggregating purchasing volume for better pricing and supply risk mitigation.  

EP 27 - Aramark's Autumn Bayles on Global Procurement and Spend Harmonization

When Aramark acquired Avenger International—the GPO consortium built by Marriott, Hilton, and other major hotel chains—they weren't just buying a customer list. They were executing a 15-year strategic plan to close competitive gaps while creating unprecedented scale for premium hospitality products. Autumn Bayles, SVP Global Supply Chain & GPOs at Aramark, reveals how this acquisition transformed their ability to serve luxury hotels and stadiums alike with everything from grass-fed beef to regional stadium favorites.
From her strategic role orchestrating multiple GPO acquisitions to building advanced analytics dashboards that answer questions like "how many sustainable products do we buy," Autumn shares the playbook for scaling procurement operations while maintaining the hospitality-first culture that drives guest experience from luxury hotels to stadium concessions.
  
Topics discussed:
AI implementation methodology for automated product matching across distributor systems with different naming conventions and data structures
A three-year technology consolidation process and backend system harmonization challenges
Five-tier product stratification architecture enabling simultaneous ultra-premium and economy sourcing within single-supplier relationships
Global business continuity protocol design requiring geographic supplier diversification beyond traditional backup supplier models
A dual-accountability leadership structure for managing internal procurement operations while retaining external GPO clients
Local-regional supplier network integration strategy balancing national contract leverage with location-specific guest experience requirements
Enterprise data processing infrastructure: daily management of millions of transaction rows with AI-enhanced analytical output
Cross-GPO spend consolidation identification using harmonized data to reveal supplier relationship optimization opportunities
Hospitality vertical complexity: simultaneous procurement for luxury hotels, sports venues, healthcare facilities, and corporate dining environments
Strategic GPO portfolio expansion rationale and competitive market positioning through vertical acquisition integration